 Respected viewers, thank you for joining us for another episode of Current Events. As always, I'm your host Ali Jassim. Recently, we were joined by Sheikh Abbas Panjoo to discuss the subject of the recent Hajj tragedy. The incident occurred during the ritual known as the Stoning of the Devil, and was the most recent in a series of similar stampede disasters since as early as 1990. At that time, the death toll had reached 770. As of now, however, that number has climbed more than 1,100 martyrs. For its part, the Iranian government has now claimed that more than 450 of the victims were Iranian Shi'at. All of this comes at a bad time for the Saudi monarchy. The Saudi government was recently appointed to head a UN human rights panel, while at the same time they are preparing to execute 21-year-old Ali An-Nimer, the nephew of imprisoned Sheikh Mohammed Baqran An-Nimer, who was just 17 at the time of his conviction. In the past week, it came to light an eliqued cable from the British government that the UK had conspired to engage in vote trading with the Saudis at the UN to get them to head up the human rights panel. All of this while Saudi Arabia continues to have one of the worst human rights records in the industrialized world, including one of the world's highest execution rates, according to international monitors such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. In the past year, Saudi Arabia has executed at least 175 people in the past year, a number that Amnesty International has called truly unprecedented. Likewise, the Kingdom has been singled out for its regular use of oppressive laws and policing tactics, torture of prisoners, forced confessions, stifling of dissent, sectarian discrimination and a staggering number of other human rights violations. The Kingdom's ongoing military campaign in Yemen has killed a large number of civilians and Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn is among those leading the effort to cut off arms sales to the country. While in a related scandal, the Saudi government has just managed to pressure Western nations at the UN into dropping an international war crimes investigation concerning Saudi actions in Yemen instead allowing those friendly to the Kingdom run the investigation. At the same time in the US, a Saudi prince was in recent weeks arrested for a series of brutal sex crimes. After being released on bail, he immediately fled the country. It remains to be seen if US prosecutors will seek his extradition for trial. He prior to the Hajj tragedy, a crane collapsed in Mecca killing 107 and wounding 238 others. The contractor is responsible for the crane where the bin Laden group, otherwise known as the same family responsible for giving the world Osama bin Laden. Meanwhile, in the last few days, emails were leaked showing that a number of prominent members of the monarchy have been calling for the removal of King Salman in a coup d'etat. All in all, it's become a difficult year for the Saudis, with all of this going on. The disaster at Hajj could not have come for a worse time for the government. The Saudi regime's response to this tragedy, which was the result of the incredible criminal incompetence of the monarchy, has been to blame the victims. And in recent scathing op-ed in the Guardian, Sabrina Raza Kussein discussed not only the stampede but the overall attitude of the Kingdom and its employees at Hajj. In the piece, she says, my ignorance had led me to believe that one of the richest Muslim countries in the world would be well organized in facilitating the rights of Hajj. Now, back in the UK, I am grateful to be alive and still horrified by what I witnessed. She goes on to discuss lack of adequate water supply and the cruel and callous behavior of the guards and religious police, and how Saudi VIPs and members of the royal family received special treatment at Hajj, something which may have played a key role in spawning this year's tragedy. With me today to discuss his own experiences as an eyewitness is Sheikh Fayyad Jafar. As-salamu alaykum, sheikhna. Wa alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullah, brother Ali. How are you? Thank you for having me. This has been a hard year for the Saudis. Are all of these events connected in some way? Could they be leading up to something bigger? Do they perhaps ignore the beginning of the end for the Saudi monarchy? Well, you see, Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, unfortunately, or fortunately, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been going through a large number of difficulties and trials and tribulations. And of course, for our community, the followers of the Hidr al-Bayt, this is very important news to be following in light of our situation. And specifically in regards to this most recent stampede during the Hajj rituals on the day of the Eid, it was very, very tragic for Muslims across the world and a very big blow in terms of Saudi internally within the government and also externally due to a lot of pressure from many countries across the world. Because this was such a big event and because this was such a tragic event, we find that a lot of countries across the world, they may be putting external pressure on the kingdom, on the monarchy of Saudi Arabia that could potentially lead to something greater within that country. Up till now, I would say that we don't necessarily have any facts or no for sure what is going to happen, but certainly due to public pressure, due to pressure from people on the internet, on social networking, for instance. As long as this pressure is continually increasing, I am sure that we will find, perhaps change has happened, at least in terms of their ministry of Hajj leading into the future and perhaps something even greater if they keep on having these mishaps year to year or month to month, probably, who knows. Sheikh, could you please describe and help us get a picture of some of what you saw and experience that Hajj this year? You see, during this particular year, like every other year on the day of the Eid, every single Muslim who is present performing the Hajj rituals, they have one responsibility and that is to throw the stones at the Jamarat al-Aqba in Mina and you have, you know, hundreds of thousands of people, you know, two and a half, three million people according to the different reports entering into this really, really small region to perform their rituals that have been obligated by Allah SWT. What we find is that unfortunately for whatever reason, every single year, on that same day, there's always a immense amount of rush. There is always a failure to facilitate. People are exhausted. People are tired. The weather is very hot and everyone wants to complete their ritual and, you know, finish off their a'amah. Thus, there is always this, you know, bottleneck in terms of the rush that is entering into that region where the Rami must be completed. Unfortunately, this year, I was not directly in the region, but from hearing reports from, you know, other witnesses who were there and from hearing the local moves that the area of entering and the area of exiting that particular region was one. So there was not a specific entrance, exit and, excuse me, there was not a specific, you know, door for entrance and not a specific door or gate for exit. Thus, people entering and people exiting were entering from the same, thus causing this massive rush. And again, like I said, unfortunately, we have been unable to get authentic reports from the government themselves. And this is going, this is extremely problematic because everyone has a different story, unfortunately. And until we get something official or until we have some, you know, video surveillance or something like this, which we are sure there's never going to be released because without a doubt, they are responsible for this. We really don't know in specific, but like I said, this is not something old every year. The Hujjaj have to deal with the same exact issue, the same exact issue of overpopulation, of rushing, of a lack of facilities that catered toward those who perform the Hajj. And this is something extremely problematic long term as people continuously every year, the numbers of Hajj, you know, perhaps they may increase this potential for a greater tragedy also has the potential for increase as well. And this is something that we need to keep an eye on unless something is done and unless something is done very soon. Yes. What is your response? The recent op-ed I mentioned from the Guardian and that the author also says in Mecca, I saw Muslims, but I saw little Islam. Does that ring true to you? Why or why not? I took a look at the article and I thought that number one was very well written and yes, unfortunately, when. People come from across the world, from different parts of the world, from different social, from different economic, from different political backgrounds, they, most of them are coming to Mecca, are coming to the city of the Prophet Medina, for one purpose, and that is to attain closeness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. They come with different backgrounds and most of them are only going to come one time and one time only. They cannot afford and so on and so forth. It is very, very difficult to make this journey. When people are coming to this type of environment, at the very least, what they do is that they expect to be treated like the servants of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, according to the narrations in regards to Hajj, that everyone who comes and performs the Hajj rituals, everyone who spends that day from Salat al-Duhur until the time of Salat al-Maghrib on the plains of Araf, for instance, are known as the doyuf al-Rahman, they are the guests of the All-Merciful Lord. At the very least, you would think those who facilitate these, those who are responsible for the infrastructure, would also adhere toward their responsibility of treating these individuals like the guests of the All-Merciful, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And unfortunately, we don't find that, we don't find that in Mecca, where people are, you know, being abused and people are being pushed and people are being shoved by the authorities themselves. And this is, again, like I said, something reoccurring. Thankfully, because of the international pressure and because of the public pressure of the stampede, we find that a lot of these types of stories are being brought to the forefront, where it's not only an issue of the events of Minna, but rather an issue of those who are responsible or who are the self-proclaimed custodians of the two Harams of Mecca and Medina, and their failure year after year in terms of providing the correct and proper means of facilitation of the Hajj is bringing the news to the forefront. And like I said, this constant pressure by journalists and by media and by specific individuals and by communities, perhaps will make a long lasting change. In discussing the behavior of guards and the religious police, the author of the Guardian op-ed also said that their manner of aggressively shouting at even the most softly spoken of programs was both needless and a cause of humiliation for those on the receiving end. This is something we hear about every year, even outside of Hajj, which makes it seem unlikely that these kinds of behaviors are simply a response to the unique pressures of the Hajj rituals. Have you witnessed these kinds of behavior? Yes, absolutely. And like I said, this is a unfortunate, reoccurring theme, not only during the time of Hajj, like you mentioned, but perhaps for those who go during the time of Umrah and not specific to this year, but every single year, if someone, for instance, has a simple request, you know, where are the bathrooms or where is this entrance or where is this door or so on and so forth, you will never be able to get an answer. You find that those authorities, those security, those individuals who are working, most of them are untrained. They're unable to speak a multitude of languages, which is necessary during the time of Hajj, where millions of people are coming from different parts of the world. They're speaking different languages. There are different cultures and so on and so forth. You find that again also, like I said, many of those who are coming and performing the Hajj, many of them are elderly. Many of them are elderly because they've saved up their entire lives to pay, to perform this once in a lifetime journey. And when they come and ask a question, someone with elderly, we are taught in the Ahlaqab, the Holy Prophet, the Ahlaqab, Ahlul Bayt, alayhim as-salatu wa s-salam, we see that they always would treat those who are elder better. And this is something that you don't necessarily need someone to remind you of. This comes from basic etiquette, basic Ahlul, as Muslims or as human beings before, even Muslims. And you find that these elderly people, they come with a simple, innocent request to the authorities and they will be told to go away, leave us alone. We are busy. This is not the time and so on and so forth. And for an individual who's truly seeking to get closer toward God, truly seeking to become amongst one of those who are the guests of the All-Merciful Lord, then how can you expect them to respond any other way than by means of disappointment? This is something that breaks the heart of people. And in Mecca, it is prevalent. And perhaps in Medina, it is even more. We find, for instance, and the grave side of Al-Baqri in the mosque of the Holy Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi, if someone is reciting a da'a that is not known toward the ears of those authorities, for instance, they are, you know, ask what book are you reading, what are you reciting, just to see, you know, and this type of behavior is really, really not acceptable to those visitors of the Holy Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi, to the visitors of the Holy household of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. It is really not acceptable. But unfortunately, this is the reality that the judge have to deal with on a year-to-year basis. Sheikh Ja'far, are such behaviors and insults only for the Shiite pilgrims, or are they for others too? I must say that without a doubt, it is for all pilgrims. There is absolutely no doubt about that. But in regards to Shiite pilgrims, we have a whole lot more to deal with, unfortunately, because our rituals are a little bit different. Because, like I said, our recitation of supplications are different. Our devotion, perhaps in the visitation to the Holy Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi, when we come and recite the Ziyarah, if someone has the book Mufatih al-Jinaan, if they are reciting the dot command, and all of these type of things, we see that those authorities, they are ready to pounce on us immediately once they see such a thing. If someone sees us, for instance, praying in a particular way, of course, the visitation of the Medinoum Imams of Al-Baqi, if we go and we perform the Ziyarah to Al-Immat Al-Baqi, we see the type of oppression that we are dealt with. It is absolutely unbelievable. We feel like we are prisoners entering into this region, just to visit, you know, the sons of Rasulullah, Imam al-Hasan, Imam al-Sajjad, Imam al-Baqir, Imam al-Sadaq, the family members of the Holy Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi wa sallam, to go and visit them, we feel this hatred surrounding us. And anyone who has been to the graveside of Al-Baqi, they know that it is far and away the most tragic experience, perhaps, that we have to deal with as followers of Ahl al-Baqi. Really, it breaks my heart just to remember, you know, every time that I entered into the graveyard of Al-Baqi, and to recall that experience that I had to deal with these guards walking around, shouting at us, not this year, but a previous year, I remember residing this Ziyara, I was holding my phone and residing this Ziyara of the Imam al-Baqi, alayhi wa sallam, and my hand was struck. No, it was not struck hard enough for me to drop my phone or anything. The fact that I was hit, you know, while I'm trying to visit the Imams of the Ahl al-Baqi, this is something, you know, not, absolutely not acceptable. And like I said, this pressure on Shia programs is far more intense than it does on anyone else, but that does not go to say that it is not intense on anyone. Unfortunately, it is for everyone. And this is the type of mentality that these type of authorities are bringing upon the Hujjaj of Allah, Subhanahu wa sallam. Just like you just mentioned, we always receive complaints from pilgrims visiting the Jannah al-Baqi that they have been abused, hit, or even mocked while reading the Ziyara of the four infallible Imams peace be upon them. Why is that so? Oh, absolutely, especially like I said during the time of the Ziyara. They say, you know, who are you visiting? These people are dead. You know, now that Allah, you know, go and pray for them and then leave and these type of things. And they, and I've seen them, they laugh at us because we see, for instance, that the grave yard of al-Baqi is open during, immediately after the time of Sadat al-Fajd. And then again, later on in the evening. But the majority of the people, they will go and they will perform the Ziyara after Sadat al-Fajd. And they keep the, they close the door until, you know, all the security is lined up as if that they need for visitors, you know, to a graveyard. But either way, they have all of the security and they keep the gate of the graveyard of al-Baqi closed. And we see that, you know, hundreds of, you know, pilgrims are coming, lining up to enter into the grave site. And oftentimes you find the security, they are laughing at us. They say, look at these people, they're coming over here, you know, to enter into a graveyard lining up, you know, as if, you know, and so on and so forth. And I've seen them, they laugh at us and they make jokes and they say things, you know, mocking our rights and mocking our rituals and mocking our Sha'a. And unfortunately our response cannot be done physically over there. We cannot respond anything verbally, for instance. We cannot even engage in any type of academic discussion because these people, unfortunately, they're not academic themselves. These people themselves, they don't use any sort of, you know, logical deduction in the midst of their debate or in the midst of their discussion. So it takes no value of us to say anything. So we enter, like I said, as prisoners and we visit the Imams of the Ahad al-Bait or oppressed themselves and we also complain about our oppression toward them. And we pray to Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala, to really sincerely that, you know, the next year in Hajj in these, you know, next few months, some, you know, that the Imam, alaihi s-salatu wa s-salam, al-ajjara Allahu ta'ala, it makes this reappearance and soon we see, you know, four domes over the Imams of the Ahad al-Bait because really it is very, very, very tragic. Project Stampede, do you have any knowledge of how the Saudis were handling the massive number of deaths? In regards to the massive number of deaths of the Stampede of Mina, unfortunately we have no idea what is going on because as we see from different news reports, the numbers are conflicting. We have seen, you know, from the number 769, which has been the official Saudi number, you know, to upwards of 4,500 as reports from other countries, some South Asian countries, Iran and so on and so forth, we have also been pushing this and we see that there is a big political struggle and a game perhaps going on between Saudi and those, you know, the monarchy of Saudi Arabia and those who were openly opposing the monarchy and also those countries which have a lot, or a large number of bodies or just still missing from returning back and family members and so on and so forth. So unfortunately I'm not sure if we are going to get a proper, accurate number of the number of deaths or even what happened immediately after the Stampede, the unfortunate tragic Stampede, you know, for a really, really long time because of the lack of information that we are receiving from authorities on the Saudi side and the reports from hospitals and families and the lost number of the judge that are continuously daily increasing, you know, as people these days returning back to where their homes are supposed to be returning back to where their homes and are not, they use families lodging complaints and communities and so on and so forth. Really it's such a messy situation that it's very easy for me to sit over here and talk about it, but in reality, we probably only know a portion of what really transpired during that event and what happened and what happened immediately after their attempt to cover up exactly the number and so on and so forth. So really it's something again, very heartbreaking because we have, you know, families that are being destroyed in communities and, you know, lives and living have an answer because we're not receiving suitable information from the authorities themselves. So it's a very sad situation, like I said and we pray to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for the quick, you know, return of all of these for judging back to their families if they are healthy and we pray for the health, inshallah. The Saudi government and religious establishment have blamed the pilgrims themselves for the tragedy or even the Iranians and Shia in particular. In the Friday sermon, immediately following the mass death or perhaps we should say mass killing, the preacher at the Masjid al-Haram seemed to go out of his way to make some hateful comments about the Shia. What do you make of this? This is absolutely ridiculous and absurd. It's just a way for someone to put off their responsibility of what truly occurred. And we find that unfortunately this is the character of any tyrant, any tyrant. We see for example, during the tragedy of Imam al-Pasain, alaihi salatu wa salam. We see that Shamr bin al-Jawsh in al-Mal'oon, the killer of Abdullah al-Pasain, alaihi salatu wa salam, when they went, when he returned back toward Kufa and they went toward him and they said, oh Shamr, what did you do? He said, no, no, no, it was not me. It was Umar ibn Sa'ad who told me what to do. When they went toward Umar ibn Sa'ad, they said, oh Umar ibn Sa'ad, you know, who, you know, why did you carry out this crime against Imam al-Pasain? He said, no, it wasn't me. I listened to the instruction of Ubaidullah ibn Ziyad. They went toward Ubaidullah ibn Ziyad in al-Mal'oon, la'natullah alaih, and they told him, oh Ubaidullah ibn Ziyad, this is the son of Rasulullah. How could you have done that? He said, no, it wasn't me. I was just following the instruction of Ubaidullah ibn Ziyad, and so on and so forth. People, they always love to put off their blame. We see that even, you know, the layman, whatever they fall into a lie, they say, no, this one pushed me into doing so, or this one told me, or it wasn't my fault, or I didn't know, or unfortunately, we always have this type of nature of putting off our responsibility. And once, for instance, we do it on a small scale. You see when a tyrant, a head of state, they're putting off the responsibility of not a lie, but a murder of perhaps, upwards of a thousand, some odd people, this is something really, really disappointing. If they had just taken up their responsibility and apologized, of course it would not have gone away with the sin that they committed and this great tragedy that just occurred, but I'll tell you what, it would have made them look a lot better at the very least in terms of other international outlets, heads of states, different countries, and so on and so forth. But they unfortunately have absolutely no idea what to do and no idea how to act in terms of a major player in the, you know, in the world. So the fact that they come for and that they blame other pilgrims, and if you go, for instance, I remember, the day after I was sitting in the taxi, and I was speaking to one taxi driver as I was going back to where my location and he was saying that it was these type of pilgrims and these type of pilgrims and these individuals from these countries which I don't even wanna mention, you know, that they're uncivilized and they started the pushing and so on and so forth. I told them, why don't, why doesn't the country themselves take responsibility for the lack of facilities, you know, undisciplined pilgrims? Absolutely ridiculous. And the fact that they came forth even and you find that I found different reports from, you know, on Twitter and on the internet from different journalists of different newspapers within the Saudi nation, some, you know, blame these type of pilgrims, some blamed why, some blamed the, and then like you mentioned, that there are this other group of journalists who came and said that these were the Shia pilgrims who were trying to start some sort of revolution as if, you know, we don't want to complete our Halloween and as if we are so violent and so on and so forth. And then they blame the, you know, like, just like you mentioned, you know, Iranian pilgrims in specific. And again, you find that this is ridiculous. They are just trying to play a political game that is occurring right now between, you know, the Saudi government and the Iranian government. And they're just trying to put pressure on the Iranian government and the Iranian government is trying to do the same in terms of the Saudi regime. And we find that this type of political movement is trying to take place. And really it's not acceptable on behalf of the Saudi government for them to do such a thing. And it is something, you know, for lack of a better word, very cheap. If they wanted, like I said, to truly come forth and make a conclusion in terms of what happened, then they should go and they should establish a delegation if they were really sincere. Like I said, and of course they're not. They would, they should establish a delegation to investigate what happened, look at reports, you know, interview eyewitnesses and so on and so forth. But, you know, like I said, this is the sad state of that nation which I highly doubt that something like that would ever, ever happen. Yes, Sheikh, as you already know, some of the governments are trying to change the nature of this tragedy to a political one instead of a religious humanitarian issue. How can you focus on the real aspect of this tragedy? Like I said, a little bit earlier in the discussion that this difference between the Saudi regime and the Shia community is exclusive in its own right. But the failure to provide specific infrastructure during the time of Hajj for pilgrims regardless of where they come from and regardless of what their religious background is, is something far greater. We see, for instance, the failure to provide necessary bathrooms and water facilities and so on and so forth, specifically in places like Mina and Muzdalafa and then Arafa are a major, major problem. Now, if someone might state that you're just speaking as a Shia, which is, might be true. But if you take a survey of Muslims in general in terms of their appreciation for the Saudi regime, I'm sure that you will find that very few people will state that this country they established or they've provided the necessary facilities to where those individuals coming for Hajj. So there is a political battle going on without a doubt between the Saudi regime and the Shia community in general and more specifically, for instance, within the Iranian nation and the Saudi nation and that had its own political baggage that we really don't wanna get into right now. And even more so in regards to the Saudi regime and Shias in terms of the oppression that Shias on a day-to-day basis have and the Wahhabi ideology and their attacks on Shiaism across the world, not only within the Saudi kingdom and then we have an even more larger problem. Perhaps we can call it a global problem or a humanitarian problem. And that is the fact that the Saudi regime does not provide any of those most basic facilities toward those who are judged. So without a doubt, this is not something specific toward the Shia. And it's not me speaking as a follower of the at-and-date, but rather I'm speaking as a human being first and the fact that these individuals are just not capable of providing the necessary responsibilities or taking hold of the necessary responsibilities which they have promised. Given that this exact same tragedy has repeated itself a number of times already and around the same ritual, one, where do you think the monarchy has failed? And two, what should they have been addressing in order to prevent a tragedy like this from happening ever again? The Saudi had a lot to do. We see first with the incident of the crane, secondly with the incident of the stampede and the stampede issue has been happening for decades. And unfortunately, they have not been able to stop it. Really, I don't think that this is something that can be solved within a day or two days or within a year. Now, certainly they can postpone something like this happening again next year by opening up different roadways or expanding the streets and the tunnels and so on and so forth. And they still have a basic infrastructure. But the problem is, I believe that it comes back down to this idea or this concept of Tawfiq from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. If someone has a sincere intention to do something, then they receive the divine intervention and the divine help from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to carry out that task. When someone, for instance, performs a particular task not for Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, but for example, for money, for wealth, for power, for authority, then you find that in reality that that is never going to come into fruition. And I find, and I believe really strongly that as long as this authority, as long as these individuals are responsible for the Hajj of Baytullah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, we will never find that this nation and the events of the Hajj will ever go without tragedy because of their lack of care, because of their lack of sincerity, because of their constant negligence, because of their failure to provide day-to-day needs of the pilgrims. Like I said, many of those who are very poor and many of those who are elderly. So unless something extremely major changes from the top and then that performs a reflection upon all of those who are within the government or within the structure and then who are responsible for certain security outlets, I am not sure that we will be able to see a change in the very near future. But I think that just to extend the answer to the question that we as individuals and as communities have responsibilities. Amongst these responsibilities is to constantly speak about these problems in the hope that something changes, to bring awareness toward others. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, that we need to come forth and go on social networking, for instance. And again, try to put more pressure on the regime and on the media to constantly expose this monarchy. And thirdly, we need to make da'a to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that they are completely removed and eradicated from taking positions which they are truly not able to live up to. And really we pray sincerely to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for the hastening of the reappearance of our Imam, Imam al-Nahdi, al-Jad Allah Ta'ala, Farid al-Sharif in the hope and the aspiration that he is the authority of us inshallah and the next Hajj. Yes, Sheikh, how was the coverage of Western media for this incident? The media themselves have been very supportive, actually, of the general Muslim community this year. Unlike other years when other tragedies have occurred or a failure to provide necessary facilities, this particular stampede caught a lot of attention, caught a lot of attention on the media due to the number, at least 769, like the Saudi regime is claiming, but like we said, perhaps upwards of 4,000 people and a media bombardment has been antagonizing the Saudi regime for their failure of providing necessary services. One of those articles is the article of the Guardian. Of course, I'm in the United States, we find articles in the New York Times and the Washington Post also speak to the failure of the Saudi regime, which is something very positive, something different than what we have normally seen. So I think that with this pressure that individuals constantly put on the media and put on the Saudi regime, maybe we could see changes taking place a lot quicker. Thank you very much for having me. Like I said, my final message for all the viewers, for all the Mu'minis, is to make da'a to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that soon we are in the presence of Imam al-Zaman, so that when we go toward the holy city of Medina, we pray behind him, that when we go and visit the Imam of Al-Baqih, we see the domes over his grandfather and the Imams of the Ahidin Bait and the family of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi. Then when we go to Mecca, we can hear him reciting, leading us in prayers next year, inshallah. When we go to Arafah, we can sit with the Imam, we can benefit from the Imam. Inshallah, imagine how different the Hajj would be under the guardianship of the Imam, Allahumma, inna nargabu ilayka fee, daulatin kareemah, we recite in da'a. We pray to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the hope that we are able to be a witness toward that pure establishment of the Imam, Ajr Allahu ta'ala farajah. Thank you, Sheikh Ja'far, inshallah. We hope the upcoming Hajj pilgrimages will be under new authorities. Brothers and sisters, this concludes today's episode of Current Events. We thank you, brothers and sisters, for watching and we thank our dear guest, Sheikh Fayyad Ja'far for joining us. We hope to see you next time. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.